Tanzer 16 -- 300 miles of Not So Open Water -- Brian's Report -- March 10, 2016
Editor’s
note: I asked Brian to help us
understand his challenge, and he provided this narrative. I have done the best I could to put some
references on a map. His words really
tell the story. I should point out that
Brian is 46 years old and his crew, his father, is 66. Here is there story Four days in the Gulf of
Mexico and the inland waterway.
My father
pulled his back the night we checked in to check point two and could not go
on. I figured I wouldn’t go without him. The weather would have
been in my face at 25 kts the rest of the way and I couldn’t leave him anyway.
The boat
took a beating. Just South of Venice Inlet the tiller snapped due to
metal fatigue. Funny because that is exactly where I snapped the
spinnaker pole two years ago. We were able to take it apart and shove it
back in temporarily. The tiller was about a foot shorter so it was a
little hard to manage. We figured we would keep going South as the wind
was coming out of the North at 15 kts and seas 2-4’ with 2-3 second duration.
Tacking back and forth would have been really hard on the rest of the tiller
and I didn’t think it would hold, so we went for Stump Pass.
When we
got to Stump Pass, the seas were 3-5’ from the WSW (at the pass) with the same
duration and the tide going out. The entrance was into the wind. It
is a tricky inlet and there was a Core Sound (a 20’ sharpie and a great design
for this race) that had both masts down and he was collecting all his equipment
on the beach. The outhaul came loose and we hadn’t noticed until we
entered the inlet and almost got knocked down trying to fix it. We
couldn’t and quickly put in the first reef. It was a little too late and
we started to beach. We were able push off but when we tried to lower the
centerboard it was stuck from the sand in the well. By the time we got
that freed we almost hit the shoal on the West but after that it took a couple
tacks and we were in.
We
checked in at Cape Haze Marina (check point one) and camped just outside of it
that night. The next morning we went back in and waited for the marina to
open to make repairs. We ended up using a hickory pole from, I think, an
old rack. It fit perfectly and actually was easier on the hand and I
think I will keep it! During repairs, we talked to another crew.
They jammed their centerboard too and had to hammer it free with a mallet.
We all
set out together (for the company) and while we are raising the main we
realize we never fixed the outhaul. I tried to fix in underway and while
in irons the boom hit me. I fell, hit the deck with my back and fell
overboard. The water was 62 degrees. Not cold for you guys but I’m
a Florida boy, that and hitting the deck knocked the wind out of me and scared
the hell out of my Dad when I was grunting instead of saying I was okay.
I got back in and we sailed the inside. The wind was at our backs and it
was a great for +/- 10 miles. We anchored with the other boat at the
bridge. The other crew was experienced but I noticed they were cautious
to a fault. We wasted about a hour while they tried to figure out
how to proceed.
We
decided to keep going inside until Sanibel Island. Two miles North of the
Sanibel bridge, we anchored for the night. The forecast was for the wind
to die down to 0-5 knots, so we put up the tent and had dinner. There was
also another racer that wanted to anchor alongside, he was a 15’ slope with a
cabin. We woke in the middle of the night to the boat listing and the
wind howling. It looked like the anchor was slipping but we weren’t sure
being so dark. We couldn’t do anything about it anyways. Around
two, the guy in the slope was calling out. His anchor broke and his
auxiliary was slipping and he feared he would lose it too. He was going
to sail on until he found safe harbor. We never saw him again, but we
hope to find out at the awards ceremony. In the morning, we realized we
had drifted about 1-1/2 miles to the North and were aground in 6” of
water. Tide was dead low, so we walked to our anchor and stowed
everything until we were free about 20 mins later.
We called
the other boat and we all were going to meet at the bridge. If we took
the channel, we would have added two miles extra and into the wind. The
other boat took that route and we figured we could make it. We did and
got to the bridge way before them. The seas were 2-3, wind 10-15 kts with
20 gusts. and from the Southeast (exactly to our head). We went out but
could not find the other boat. Later we found out that they figured that
was too rough and took the inside. We looked at it and thought it was too
hard to sail through given our skill and the wind direction. Later we
heard they couldn’t do it and gave up sailing back to Cape Haze.
We had
lost sometime and figured we would sail clear to Marco Island. Once the
sun went down the seas died down and the wind was a steady 10 kts.
We enjoyed the stars and made Marco by midnight. We camped at a beach and
realize our battery to charge our phones was dead. We must have hit the
button when we stowed it. The next morning we went to a marina, had
breakfast and charged our phones. Bad mistake. By the time we left
the tide was against us. I figured the wind was strong enough to push us
through. It was at the inlet, but when we got to the shoal at the
South of the island, the tide was too strong and we were against the
wind. It took us until 4pm to pass it. The rest of the day we
tacked back and forth against the wind and seas. The boat took a hard
pounding. I still need to check for damage.
We made
Indian Key pass at night. It is tricky even during the day, but we have
the tide with us so we went for it. The track does not show it, but we
tracked every couple minutes all the way through it. There was also a lot
of rowing until we got to the check point to sign in. We then docked at a
local marina and went to sleep. I woke up at 5am to see my Dad sitting on
a dock bench. He was in a lot of pain and could not go on. So we
called it quits.
It took a
gopro with me but was either too busy or too tried to ever use it.
Sorry!
Sincerely,
Brian
Mrachek
